14-year-old Antonio Iaquinta takes a picture of a couple next to the Lamborghini Huracán.

Brendan McAleer, Driving

Lamborghini Huracán

Brendan McAleer, Driving

The Lamborghini Huracán at Porteau Cove in B.C.

Brendan McAleer, Driving

The Lamborghini Huracán is the epitome of the dream car.

Brendan McAleer, Driving

The Lamborghini Huracán in the fog.

Brendan McAleer, Driving

Lamborghini Huracán

Brendan McAleer, Driving

Lamborghini Huracán

Brendan McAleer, Driving

14-year-old Antonio Iaquinta got up close and personal with his dream car on this stormy B.C. day

by
Brendan McAleer | October 23, 2015

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It’s an otherworldly day, the remnants of Hurricane Oho spinning in off the Pacific to lash B.C. with high winds and torrential rain. On the coast, Tofino’s surfers grin maniacally, shredding the huge waves carried by the dying storm; here, on a hidden back road north of Squamish, we do the same.

The tarmac is littered with slippery leaves, and lichen-blackened branches go pinwheeling through the air, stripped from the ancient trees by fierce gusts. Whompf! Trailing a thundering, rushing, howling ball of spray and debris, a mid-engined blade pierces the weather, carrying a shock wave of atomized water behind it.

It’s a Lamborghini, powered by the mechanical scream of a V10, and painted a seasonally appropriate pumpkin orange. The intakes of its shark-like nose are stuffed with leaves, its angular flanks are muddied, and from the rear issues 600 horsepower of rage. It’s a Lamborghini Huracán, and it’s a storm all its own.

The Lamborghini Huracán at Porteau Cove in B.C.

Is there anything more selfish than a supercar? They’re usually eye-wateringly expensive, they’re not particularly good for the environment, and they’re certainly not practical. Look at me, shouts the Lambo’s headless-horseman paint job; it’s a little bit narcissistic and certainly not playing your cards close to your chest. Oh, who cares? This thing’s freakin’ awesome.

Beside me in the passenger’s seat is Antonio Iaquinta, a polite, soft-spoken 14-year-old. You may recognize the last name: Antonio is the older brother to 10-year-old Joey, whose dream of travelling with his family to the home of Ferrari in Italy is soon to be realized, thanks to the B.C. Chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, along with the support of the Vancouver-based supercar community – we covered the story earlier this year.

The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada was established in 1984 to help children with serious medical conditions find the hope they need. The idea is simple: a child going through the draining process of chemotherapy or the confinement of being restricted to a hospital bed can take hope in the idea of having their wish granted. It can be anything from going up in a hot air balloon to meeting a hero.

The Lamborghini Huracán looked imposing on this stormy B.C. day.

In Joey Iaquinta’s case, his wish was to travel to Modena, the birthplace of Ferrari, and try out the F1 simulator at the Museo Enzo Ferrari. The now 10-year-old was facing round after round of treatment for neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder affecting nerve tissue and the dream of escaping to Italy gave him something to think about during a difficult time.

A child’s illness affects a family as a whole, so when a note came from Lamborghini indicating a Huracán would be hitting the area, the folks at the local Children’s Wish chapter had a great idea. Joey’s the Ferrari nut in the Iaquinta family, with its Italian roots, but older brother Antonio prefers Lamborghinis. Why not set up a quick spin on the Sea-to-Sky?

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The weather, it has to be said, was distinctly non-cooperative, but that merely added to the drama of the day. On the eerily-lit waters of Burrard Inlet, a ferry fought choppy waters as it made the crossing from Vancouver Island. Trucks carried blinding contrails of spray, and the air was oddly warm and tropical.

After plodding through the torrential conditions, we hurtled into the fog and mist atop Cypress Hill to see if we could break through the cloud cover. Instead, the Huracán found itself encased in water, cornering through rain-slicked pavement, more hydrofoil than car.

The Lamborghini Huracán is the epitome of the dream car.

Where the reality of modern driving meets the dream-car, the result is often a disappointment. In the poster on our wall, a Countach looks perfect, ready to leap down an abandoned, freshly tarmac’d road. In the real world, spending a day like today in such a high-strung Italian steed, you’d probably end up picking Douglas Fir out of your undercarriage.

But this is a modern Lamborghini, and that means all-wheel drive and clever traction aid systems to handle all sorts of weather conditions. If anything, it feels like an especially deranged Audi, fitted with navigation that actually works, and a backup camera that makes parking actually easy. It’s easy to cruise along if that’s what you’d like, but it’s also eager to leap ahead viciously; there’s plenty of drama, just not of the unintended fireball type.

Antonio is, like most teenagers, pretty quiet. If you start talking about basketball, he gets a bit more animated, describing a time he broke his nose while playing to win. For watching, football is his game, and he favours New York for the way they place team play over hiring the superstars. When asked why he likes Lamborghinis more than Ferraris, he answers, “I guess I like the simplicity.” Unlike Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren, Lamborghini doesn’t do the hybrid-hypercar thing. Its machines are about something different.

14-year-old Antonio Iaquinta takes a picture of a couple next to the Lamborghini Huracán.

We stop at Porteau Cove to take some pictures against the stormy backdrop and a couple ask to take a picture with the Lamborghini. Antonio takes their smartphone and snaps a few pics. People seem to love the slim, orange stiletto of a car; it sits there, happily getting drooled over and pointed at. Flipping the drive selector to sport mode, we haul out of there to hammer along the pavement in 10-cylinder fury.

According to long-time Lamborghini Vancouver Manager Robert Rons, the local dealership finished in the top four for volume in North America. They also recently featured a blue Huracán at a local charity golf tournament that supported the Children’s Wish foundation.

You have to think that Lamborghini does the dream car game better than most. While there is some racing, both present and historical, it isn’t a company that built its reputation on winning. It’s about the allure of the Miura, the shock and awe of the Countach, the thunder of the current range-topping bewinged Aventador SuperVeloce.

Lamborghini Huracán

Really, it isn’t selfish at all. A Lamborghini is not just for the owners – whether it’s a day at the wheel, a ride in the passenger seat or just snapping a selfie in front of one, it brings thrills to multiple people.

Like all dreams, this one must end. The car has to go back and the keys handed over. But the memory remains: when the hurricane hit, this stormy Lamborghini was a joyous coloured exclamation point on a dark day. That’s the job of a dream car – it passes through, brightens up your life, and you think, perhaps, maybe, someday….